A NATION CHALLENGED: THE COMBAT; A Leader of Afghan Rebels Says They Are Near a Crucial Taliban City

The Northern Alliance said today that its troops had advanced to the outskirts of the strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif, capitalizing on what it said were a rash of defections from the Taliban army and setting the stage for a decisive battle for control of northern Afghanistan.

The alliance's deputy defense minister, Atiqullah Baryalai, said his forces had captured two towns, Marmol and Sherdian, on the southern fringes of Mazar-i-Sharif last night.

He stopped short of predicting that his forces would capture the city, and said the Northern Alliance was having difficulty supplying its troops because its small helicopter fleet was still vulnerable to Taliban antiaircraft guns.

''Our first aim is to take the north,'' Mr. Baryalai said in an interview at his headquarters here, about 200 miles east of Mazar-i-Sharif on the border with Tajikistan. ''This is only one step, but it is an important step.''

Still, Mr. Baryalai said the advance on Mazar-i-Sharif was one of several recent successes scored by the Northern Alliance against Taliban forces in the 10 days since the American bombing had begun.

Mr. Baryalai said opposition forces had made most of their gains in two of the three major pockets of opposition control, around Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and Herat in the west. He said his forces had had little success in the northeast, the largest opposition-controlled area, where the rebels and the Taliban face one another on the plains north of Kabul.

If Mr. Baryalai's assessment is correct, it provides the clearest picture yet of the Northern Alliance view of the country's rapidly evolving military and political situation.

Mr. Baryalai rejected the notion that the Northern Alliance's main military efforts were focused on Kabul and the country's northeast. Instead, he asserted that his forces were striking at the Taliban from within, across an arc that stretches across the northern rim of the country from Herat to Taliqan.

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The capture of Mazar-i-Sharif, an ancient city that lies on the Silk Road through Central Asia, would dramatically alter the military and political situation. It could clear the way for American military forces stationed just across the Amu Darya in Uzbekistan to enter Afghanistan.

For the Northern Alliance, the capture of Mazar-i-Sharif could mark a major advance toward its goal of linking the pockets of rebel activity that span the country's north.

A battle over Mazar-i-Sharif could be a bloody one. The city was the scene of large-scale massacres in 1997 and 1998, when the Taliban and the forces who are now rebels battled for control of the city.

Mr. Baryalai said the advance on Mazar-i-Sharif this week had been aided by the defection of Taliban commanders and nearly 6,000 troops, most of whom are stationed near Mazar-i-Sharif.

This afternoon, the Northern Alliance announced the defection of Hashmi Habibi, a Taliban warlord stationed near Mazar-i-Sharif who is said to be in command of some 1,500 soldiers. Mr. Habibi was scheduled to appear tonight on the Iranian-based Radio Meshed to announce his switch.

Mr. Habibi is the third Taliban commander who was reported to have jumped to the Northern Alliance in the last week.

''Soon there will be more,'' Mr. Baryalai said.

Mr. Baryalai identified the opposition commander in charge of the Mazar-i-Sharif operation as Ostad Ata, a hero in the war against the Soviet Union. Mr. Baryalai praised Mr. Ata's leadership and suggested that he had eclipsed Gen. Rashid Dostum, a longtime local warlord known for his brutal tactics and propensity to switch sides.

Mr. Baryalai said Northern Alliance forces had also made significant gains in the region around Sar-i Pul and in Samangan Province south of Mazar-i-Sharif. He said Ismail Khan, one of the country's most powerful opposition leaders, had captured the town of Farsi in Herat Province and was moving toward Shindand, the site of a large military air base.

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A version of this article appears in print on October 16, 2001, on Page B00004 of the National edition with the headline: A NATION CHALLENGED: THE COMBAT; A Leader of Afghan Rebels Says They Are Near a Crucial Taliban City. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe